Commemoration of Polish Foreign Service Day in South Africa
16.11.2025
The Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Pretoria commemorated Foreign Service Day on 16 November 2025. Consul Robert Rusiecki laid a wreath at the grave of Polish diplomat Stanisław Łepkowski.
On 16 November 1918 Marshal Józef Piłsudski sent the first foreign telegram to world leaders informing the international community of the rebirth of an independent Polish state. To commemorate this event, we celebrate Foreign Service Day every year on 16 November.
From 1941 to May 1946, Dr. Stanisław Łepkowski served as Consul General in Pretoria. After the war, he remained in the Union of South Africa, where he died. During World War II, Dr. Łepkowski played a crucial role in organizing a safe haven for Polish refugees in the Union of South Africa. The Polish government-in-exile in London, represented by Consul General Dr. Stanisław Łepkowski, initiated negotiations with the Prime Minister of the European Union, Field Marshal Jan Smuts, which resulted in an agreement regarding Polish children and their guardians. 500 Polish refugee children and their guardians, who had survived deportation to Siberia by the Russian NKVD and the subsequent journey from Siberia, arrived at the Oudtshoorn Children's Home on 10 April 1943.